BOSTON – A Tewksbury real estate developer was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for defrauding the government of more than $480,000 by engaging in a multi-year tax evasion scheme.
Arnold Martel, 61, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to two years of probation. The government recommended a sentence of 18 months in prison and one year of supervised release. Martel was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $482,489 to the IRS and a fine of $25,000. On May 13, 2021, Martel pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.
Martel deliberately evaded his responsibility to pay a significant portion of his tax obligations on income from a large condominium development that he built and marketed. From approximately 2014 through 2017, buyers paid Martel’s business the sales price for condos sold. For extras and upgrades to the condos, however, Martel directed buyers to pay him personally. Martel then failed to report this additional income to his tax preparer or report it as income on his tax returns. In total, Martel personally received more than $1.2 million in payments for condo upgrades. For tax years 2014 through 2017, Martel did not report this income on this tax returns resulting in a tax loss of over $482,000.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Holcomb of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.